Hurricane Rafael makes landfall in Cuba as a Category 3 storm

Hurricane Rafael made landfall in western Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday afternoon.

This year's fifth significant hurricane in the Atlantic and the strongest this late in the year since 2020, the storm knocked off power in several areas.

The storm's winds increased from 60 to 115 miles per hour on Tuesday and Wednesday, which is far faster than the 35 mph required for rapid intensification. Rafael weakened significantly when it passed over Cuba, reaching a maximum sustained wind speed of 105 mph and becoming a Category 2 hurricane.

After tearing over the Caribbean, the hurricane is predicted to encounter significant opposition in the Gulf of Mexico. It may make landfall this weekend as a considerably weaker storm anywhere from northeastern Mexico to the US Gulf Coast.

With the Tampa Bay region still recuperating from hurricanes Helene and Milton, Rafael was predicted to have little effect.

“We will be breezy with scattered showers and storms today and Thursday, but the highest winds and rainfall amounts will stay west of Tampa Bay,” Spectrum Bay News 9 Weather posted on social media Wednesday morning.

A state of alarm has been imposed on the western and central regions of Cuba by the civil defense, which is advising residents to restrict their travel. Havana's normally busy streets were mostly deserted on Wednesday afternoon.

As the storm's center moved west of Havana, the National Hurricane Center reports that one wind gust in the capital hit 93 mph and another at the international airport hit 71 mph.

With 4 to 8 inches predicted in western Cuba and sporadic higher totals of up to 12 inches throughout higher terrain, Rafael is likely to pour heavy rainfall across the western Caribbean until early Thursday. This will cause mudslides and flash flooding. Storm surge could also raise water levels “as much as 9 to 14 feet above normal tide levels in areas of onshore winds” along the southern coast of Cuba, the NHC said.

In the United States, Wednesday into the evening is predicted to bring tropical storm conditions to the middle and lower Florida Keys.

It is anticipated that the lower and middle Florida Keys will receive 1 to 3 inches of rain. Through Wednesday evening, there is a chance of multiple tornadoes across the Florida Keys and the far southwest Florida peninsula.

This is the second hurricane to hit Cuba in a few weeks. In late October, Hurricane Oscar devastated Cuba, killing at least seven people. The electricity grid in the nation is also weak and has fallen several times, including during Oscar's October attack.